The invention relates to the field of phase shifters, and in particular a phase shifter comprising an arrangement of photonic crystal microcavities, which each include a defect region containing nonlinear materials.
Phased arrays are playing an increasingly significant role in space-based and national defense applications. However, a practical implementation of arrays with thousands of elements is limited by the complexity of the antenna and feed structures as well as the active phase-shifting elements. The use of integrated photonics for the realization of phased array beam forming is of much interest due to benefits like low cost, low weight, and low power consumption. One of the key components of such an integrated approach is a photonic radio frequency (RF) phase shifter that can provide an accurate and easily controllable phase shift.